Napping the first day you get a CPAP machine?

[aevans410]

Hello all, new CPAP user here.

I am working right now, until 3 my time. I left work earlier this morning so the clinician could show me how to use my S9 Escape machine, humidifier, and mask.

I am VERY tired, I feel like I want to fall asleep right now on my feet. Has anyone napped with the CPAP machine the same day they received it, and if so, did it affect your ability to sleep later that night?

Thanks in advance for the replies.

[BlackSpinner]

Always use your cpap machine when sleeping. It make take a few weeks before you get caught up with healing and sleep anyway.

Oh and see if you can get that brick replaced with an Elite - NEVER accept a machine with the name Escape because you need to know how your therapy is doing and this brick won't do that. The only data on it is for the DME to collect money.

[Roobin]

Yep, I did. I think taking the nap on day 1 helped me adjust to the idea / reality of sleeping with it all night.

[Pugsy]

You might want to read this information written by one of our forum members.
http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/
Be sure to read down at the bottom of the page about what to do when you realize you have been given a "brick".
Brick is what we call machines that don't offer full efficacy data. Your Escape does collect one bit of data and only one.
It collects hours of use so the DME can prove to the insurance company that you are using the machine the amount of time needed to satisfy insurance requirements so that the insurance company will pay the DME for the machine.
It collects nothing that might help you evaluate your therapy. Won't even tell you if you have the leaks under control and if leaks aren't under control then the whole therapy is suspect.

Up to you if you want to work on getting a full data machine. Just wanted to alert you to that fact.
With full data you can get reports like the ones in my signature line (look for PR S1 software options) while the machines are different I have examples of SleepyHead in there and SleepyHead will also work with the ResMed S9 machines.

[sydneyearly]

Oh yeah, I napped all the time the first few weeks. As long as you wear your mask every time you go to sleep it is within the rules. I had a long wait between my sleep studies and when I got my machine. It isn't fair to show people what sleep is than not give the device to them for weeks. At any rate I was so wiped out by the time I got it, I used it a few times a day at first.

You are probably going to go through some pretty wild sleep if you have severe issues because of rapid cycle REM. This just is that your brain to survive being woke up every four minutes has learned to go into REM super fast but very shallow. If you adjust fast to your CPAP you can enjoy having rapid cycle REM and not getting interrupted until you adjust. Get ready for some of the best Naps ever.

All this is anecdotal and based on my very limited understanding of the subject, I just know those first few weeks of sleep were amazing.

[aevans410]

Wow, that was an interesting read. I really wish I had seen it before I picked up this machine...

Thanks for the tips

[Sir NoddinOff]

At first I could come up with no sane reason a DME or doctor would give someone a 'brick'. After thinking about it I realized that the doctor gets no data, the patient gets no data and the DME and techs get no data. The only way to find out if the patient is improving is ANOTHER EXPENSIVE SLEEP STUDY Hmmmm. The picture's getting much clearer now.

[aevans410]

Yea it seems that way doesn't it.

[KEQ5]

I just got my machine recently as well (on Friday, S9 Autoset). I napped for about 90 minutes in the afternoon on the machine, then when I went to bed that night slept for about 2-3 hours, woke up for 2 hours while I read out in the L/R, then went back to bed for 3-4 hours. Napped this evening for 3-4 hours on the machine as well.

I figure that:
- I have a massive sleep debt to deal with
- My body is used to the afternoon naps
- It will take a few weeks before I get into only sleeping at night for 7-8 hours straight

As long as I can get sleep without apneas and get more then a handful of hours of rest per night and slowly work towards a normal sleep schedule, I'm ahead of the game.

[zoocrewphoto]

Yep, I did. I think taking the nap on day 1 helped me adjust to the idea / reality of sleeping with it all night.

Same here. I had a great experience at the sleep study, so I excited to get started. I took a nap a couple hours after I got home with it just so that I could try it at home. And I think it helped me get it figured out a little more before my actual bed time.

[DavidCarolina]

Yes, not to alarm you, but is there some kind of guarantee on that thing? Tell them whatever you need to tell them in order to get a readable machine. Look to see what the better posters on here have. You need to be able to READ your data!!!!!

Also helpful if you can read your oximetric data. You need a certain oximeter to do that with here!

Otherwise, you'll be a "slave" (forgive the term) to your DME, your sleep doc, etc. Those visits get expensive for minor alterations and
adjustments!

[ChicagoGranny]

Wow, that was an interesting read. I really wish I had seen it before I picked up this machine...

Thanks for the tips

Get yourself in the mood to be extremely assertive about getting that machine changed to a ResMed AutoSet.

This is about much more than the costs of more sleep studies. It is about being able to do home monitoring of how CPAP works in your own bed.

[flatag]

I used to nap every afternoon. Sometimes several times a day. Since getting on cpap therapy a month ago I haven't needed to nap.

[SleepyToo2]

Also helpful if you can read your oximetric data. You need a certain oximeter to do that with here!

While an oximeter is useful at times, IMHO I would be more concerned about getting an efficacy data-capable machine. If there were desaturations during the 1st study and they were corrected in the 2nd without oxygen, my doc told me that the likelihood of having desats during normal therapy was slim to none. I didn't entirely believe him, so bought an oximeter - the couple of nights I have used it have showed the doc to be right. So, I would only bother with the oximeter if I was continuing to have morning headaches (which I am not) after the first couple of weeks. The OP should focus on one thing at a time, although that is JMHO!

[ChicagoGranny]

Also helpful if you can read your oximetric data. You need a certain oximeter to do that with here!

While an oximeter is useful at times, IMHO I would be more concerned about getting an efficacy data-capable machine. If there were desaturations during the 1st study and they were corrected in the 2nd without oxygen, my doc told me that the likelihood of having desats during normal therapy was slim to none. I didn't entirely believe him, so bought an oximeter - the couple of nights I have used it have showed the doc to be right. So, I would only bother with the oximeter if I was continuing to have morning headaches (which I am not) after the first couple of weeks. The OP should focus on one thing at a time, although that is JMHO!

I agree with you if the patient has only sleep apnea (and not some pulmonary disease).

If you have healthy lungs and can get your AHI down to acceptable levels (monitoring with a data-capable machine) an oximeter will not be of value. In any case most DMEs will do an overnight at-home oximetry study free of charge. This should be undertaken before considering the value of having your own oximeter.

Our oximeter languishes in some unknown drawer - useless.